The Big East could dissolve, with schools like Marquette joining a basketball-centric league with other hoops powers. (AP Photo)

With dramatic instability on the football side in the wake of Rutgers’ pending move to the Big Ten and with Louisville and Connecticut believed to be actively seeking new conference homes, the seven Catholic basketball schools in the Big East could vote to leave the league en masse and create their own conference.

The simplest and cheapest method would be to dissolve the Big East. And the basketball schools -- DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Villanova -- have until July to exert control.

Big East bylaws state that the league can be dissolved with a two-thirds majority vote, and dissolution is the only way for each school to avoid the $10 million-$20 million exit fees.

With Pitt, Syracuse, Notre Dame and now Rutgers leaving the conference, there remains only four football schools (Louisville, UConn, Cincinnati and South Florida) with voting rights. Should another leave before July, that’d give the basketball schools the power to dissolve the league and create another basketball-centric conference without penalty.

Come July, though, new members Temple, Central Florida, Houston, Memphis and SMU would have voting rights and could block the move.

New commissioner Mike Aresco, who assumed the job in mid-August, is in the midst of negotiating a new TV contract now. Should he fail create an equitable deal for the basketball schools and keep UConn and Louisville in the in the fold, the much talked about mega-basketball league could become reality.

The Big East basketball schools are more willing to consider the concept now more than ever, according to The Journal.

The concept of the new basketball conference would include the seven Big East basketball castoffs plus some, if not all, of high-profile non-football schools such as Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, Butler, Creighton, Xavier and Saint Louis.